Investigation of the effect of exercise difficulty grades on productivity and performance on different groups in approach control simulation training

The training of the controllers who will work in the air traffic control units supported by the airspace structure and advanced technology, which becomes more complex every year, should be continuously improved. Innovative approaches in education design should be continuously developed especially for the applied field of air traffic control education and should be adapted to different learning structures of individuals. For this purpose, in this study, experiments were carried out on air traffic control students in a real-time simulation environment to obtain data that could shed light on educational design. These experiments were applied with radar approach simulator exercise scenarios at four different difficulty levels and the performance and efficiency of the students were examined. In addition, performance and productivity values were correlated with different individual characteristics such as students' grade point averages, cognitive ability scores and whether they were experienced in the course in question. In line with the data obtained, the factors affecting the success of the students in the simulator courses in air traffic control training were examined. As a result of the experiments, it was seen that the productivity performance of the students belonging to the experienced group was higher and the inexperienced group avoided 1st degree critical mistakes, but could not work efficiently compared to the experienced group.